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Grants & Incentives
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Article Content
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| TGM Grant Applications Now Available for 2012 Round |
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General TGM Grant Information
TGM grant application materials for the 2012 round are now available.
Grant Award Timeline
| April 17, 2012: | Application packet available on web site (packet will be e-mailed to pre-applicants) |
| June 15, 2012: | Applications due |
| June-Sept. 2012: | Application review and project selection |
| October 1, 2012: | Grants announced |
Background: The Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program (TGM) provides local governments with funding for planning projects that lead to more livable, economically vital, transportation-efficient, sustainable, pedestrian-friendly communities. TGM awards two types of grants:
Category 1: Transportation System Planning, including TSP updates, to give Oregonians a range of transportation choices and meet requirements of the Oregon Transportation Planning Rule
Category 2: Integrated Land Use & Transportation Planning, to promote compact, mixed-use development supported by improved pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and multi-modal street facilities
Annual Award Cycle
TGM awards grants on an annual basis. Applications are due in June and awards are made every October. All projects have a two-year period for completion. For a list of the TGM grants that were awarded in 2011, click here.
Pre-Applications for Grants and Other TGM Services (Code Assistance, Quick Response, TSP Assessment, & Outreach Workshops)
A pre-application is not required to obtain TGM services, but is encouraged, particularly for grant projects. A TGM representative will contact each pre-applicant to discuss project ideas and assist with the submission of a qualifying grant project application or request for other TGM community assistance services. Pre-application packets that describe all TGM services, including grants, can be found here electronically: 2012 Pre-Application Packet. Here is a fillable form that can be submitted electronically. The suggested grant pre-application deadline was March 16, 2012, but pre-applications for all TGM services, including grants, may be submitted year-round.
Although Code Assistance, Quick Response, TSP Assessment, and Outreach workshop projects are not awarded through a competitive process, we encourage you to submit a pre-application if you anticipate needing any of these Community Assistance Program services.
Grant Application Assistance
The TGM grant manager for your area can provide guidance if you have questions as you are preparing your grant application. See the TGM Program Contact list in the Grant Application Packet.
Sample Grant Applications: Here are links to sample grant applications for a Category One Transportation System Plan (TSP) update project and a Category Two Integrated Land Use and Transportation Plan project.
Application Tips: For tips on filling out the application form, click here.
Questions
For general questions about the TGM grant application review process, contact cindy.l.lesmeister@odot.state.or.us or 503.986.4349. For specific questions about TGM grants and other program elements, see our TGM Program Contact list.
TGM Public Involvement and TGM Tangibles Reports
Through grants and technical support services, TGM works collaboratively with local governments on projects that encourage land use planning and the local transportation network to better support each other. The TGM Public Involvement Report documents specific ways
in which TGM seeks out and successfully involves the public and other stakeholders in its work. The TGM Tangibles Report highlights projects that have built resulting from TGM grants.
Updates on TGM Projects
The TGM Program is interested in receiving updates on local TGM projects so that it can share success stories, special achievements, lessons learned, or other useful information with others. Please let us know if you have something to share as a result of your TGM project. Send project updates, photos, and comments to Deborah Benavidez at Deborah.BENAVIDEZ@odot.state.or.us.
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| Other Sources of Grants and Services |
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The grants and services listed below on this page are provided by other state and national programs, not TGM. They are included on the TGM web site to make it easier for local governments to supplement or complement TGM grants with other funding sources that may also help communities to expand transportation choices for Oregonians.
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| Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportaton Enhancement Grants from ODOT |
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With the recent approval by the Oregon Transportation Commission of a combined selection process for bicycle/pedestrian and transportation enhancement projects, ODOT will open the application process for $20 million on May 1, 2012. Projects chosen will receive stated-funded grants from ODOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program (OBPAC) and federal funds from the Transportation Enhancement (TE Program. The two programs are now part of ODOT's Active Transportation Section. For more information, click here or call 503.986.3528.
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| Energy Tax Credits |
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The Oregon Department of Energy offers tax credits and other incentives to those who invest in energy conservation, recycling, renewable energy resources and energy-efficient transportation projects. Transportation projects that reduce fuel consumption may also qualify. Energy-efficient schools may also qualify for grants.
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| Main Street Program |
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Oregon Main Street is a statewide commercial district revitalization program jointly housed with Business Oregon and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This program, in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center, was created to assist communities in achieving viable commercial districts. In the 1970s, the National Trust for Historic Preservation developed its pioneering Main Street four point approach to commercial district revitalization.
The underlying premise of Main Street is to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation in ways appropriate to today's marketplace. This approach advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment and the rebuilding of traditional districts based on their unique assets: distinctive architecture, a pedestrian-friendly environment, personal service, local owernship and a sense of community.
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| Planning Grants/Oregon Dept. of Land Conservation & Development |
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The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development provides grants and technical assistance to local governments to help them update comprehensive plans, land-use ordinances, and other planning regulations.
Planning grants are awarded to jurisdictions working within a structured periodic review process. Technical Assistance grants can go to jurisdictions with planning projects that fall outside the structured plan update process.
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| Preservation Incentives |
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Many older and historic communities in Oregon were designed and laid out in ways that encourage walking, biking, and use of transit. Pedestrian-friendly streets, compact development, and other features now being promoted through New Urbanism can often be found in the Old Urbanism. For these and other reasons, there is growing interest among developers, local governments, and others in financial incentives available to preserve and enhance "transportation efficient" communities that have existed for decades.
Federal tax credits are available to help developers rehabilitate older buildings in existing communities. Under the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, developers and property owners may claim:
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a 20% tax credit on expenses incurred in the rehabilitation of certified historic structures or buildings located in a district listed in the National Register of Historic Places; or
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a 10% tax credit on expenses incurred in the rehabilitation of non-historic buildings built before 1936.
These credits are available only for substantial rehabilitation projects. Thus rehab expenses must exceed $5,000 or the adjusted basis of the building. In addition, the buildings must be depreciable. That is, they must be used in a trade or business for the production of income. They may be used for offices, stores, industry, agriculture or rental housing, but they may not serve exclusively as the owner's home.
The State of Oregon's Special Assessments for Historic Properties offer 10-year property tax abatements under certain circumstances as an incentive to preserve and rehabilitate historic properties.
For more information about these incentives, contact the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, which administers this program as well as a tax abatement program available for historic properities.
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| Safe Routes to School Grants |
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Under the Oregon Safe Routes to School Program, grants can be used to identify and reduce barriers and hazards to children walking or biking to school. For more information, click on the link above or contact Julie Yip, program manager, at 503.986.4196 or julie.a.yip@odot.state.or.us
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| Transportation Enhancements |
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Through the Oregon Transportation Enhancements Program, communities can obtain funds to carry out a variety of pedestrian, bicycle, streetscape and other improvements that enhance the cultural, aesthetic, or environmental value of transportation systems.
Eligible Transportation Enhancement Projects include: pedestrian and bicycle facilities, pedestrian and bicycle safety education, acquisition of scenic or historic sites, scenic or historic highway programs, landscaping, historic preservation, rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities (e.g., railroad stations), rail-trails, archaeological planning and research, and transportation museums. By law, enhancement projects "must have a direct relationship to the intermodal surface transportation system." For more information about the Oregon Transportation Enhancements program, contact Patricia Fisher, Oregon Transportation Enhancement Program Manager, at patricia.r.fisher@odot.state.or.us or 503.986.3528.
Federal Highway Administration Information on Transportation Enhancements
Transportation Enhancements: Guiding Principles
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| Community Design for Governors |
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The Governors' Institute on Community Design works with governors and top staff members around the country to address state goals relating to community design and land use. Workshops can bring together a state governor and his/her cabinet to meet with nationally renowed experts and practitioners in design, planning, transportation, and land use. The Institute is a collaboration of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute, the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland, and the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency/Smart Growth Network. For more information, call 202.207.3354, ext. 24 or e-mail info@govinstitute.org
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